


Rings

by perniciousLizard



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-22
Updated: 2015-12-22
Packaged: 2018-05-08 08:18:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5490203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perniciousLizard/pseuds/perniciousLizard
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Three scenes, post movie.  They're happy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rings

**Author's Note:**

  * For [chashew](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chashew/gifts).



"You look like shit, dude," Newt said as he shrugged on his jacket. "No offense."

"And you continue to look like an overgrown, maladjusted _child_ ," Hermann said. He felt worse than he looked, he was sure. He sat on the edge of their bed, his posture hunched, eyes closed.

"Yeah, uhuh. You know what? Screw 'mandatory.' Even if you go, I'm staying, because I've always hated this type of--"

"Newton! We're going. I won't hear otherwise."

"You can't make me go. Like, that isn't how this arrangement works."

"I know what you're trying to do, and I won't stand for it. If you think you're being... _devious_ , well. You need to be disabused of that notion." He growled and forced himself up to his feet. "This is nothing."

Newt's face was transparent with his worry, but he held his hands up and said, "No no no, you're completely misinterpreting what is going on here. It's about inane department politics, and my disdain for them. Do you have any idea how much actual real important work I could be getting done, except I have to put on a monkey suit and go get drunk with people who don't know enough to get that they should respect me?"

"Come now, Newton. If we weren't going to the party--the party that we _are_ going to _,_ because I will _not_ be coddled by you--you would spend the night watching television or listening to records."

"Still a way more worthwhile use of my time."

Hermann banged his cane on the floor, holding it in both hands, and stood as straight as could. He met Newt's eyes. "You can stay, and make your meaningless point to everyone. Heaven knows I have never been able to make you do or not do anything. But I am _leaving_." He wouldn't be told what he could handle by this man, just because they had shared a neural load for a few minutes two bloody years ago.

"Okay, fine, god. Let's get out of here and get it over with. You're going to be pissing in everyone's cheerios all night, but I'm absolving myself of responsibility here and now."

"You have never been _responsible_ for me," Hermann said, aghast.

"No, sorry, that's not true." He held up his hand and tapped on the wedding band on his finger. "You fucked that up."

"God, Newton, don't remind me." He smiled, for a second. "I feel ill enough already."

Newt was relieved that the ring still carried that much magic power. He figured he had maybe another month before Hermann just rolled his eyes when he pointed it out. But, until then, he was extracting every bit of honey out of this honeymoon phase.

They walked together out into the downpour, Newt holding the umbrella over both their heads.

"I _am_ perfectly fine," Hermann repeated, quieter, in the car.

Newt gripped the steering wheel a little tighter and glared out into the dark. The headlights lit the rain and he had to squint to see anything else. It was a dangerous night for driving, and normally Hermann would insist on doing it himself. "Shut up. Don't lie to my face like that. It's insulting."

"I am managing," he said, slowly. "That is as fine as it is going to get."

Newt nodded. He didn't speak for a while, concentrating on the road. The rain slowed down and he relaxed his hands on the wheel. "Babe, switch on the radio for me, all right? We'll both die, I'm 90% certain, if I look away from the road tonight. Survived a one on one confrontation with a kaiju, died hydroplaning on the way to some bullshit party. I'd be embarrassed for us, if I wasn't, you know, dead in this scenario."

"You need to be driving faster than this, to kill us that way," Hermann said. He switched the radio on. He offered to take over driving, and Newt took it as an insult.

The rain had turned into a gentle mist, by the time Newt parked. When he got out of the car, he stood outside the open door and let the mist brush against his face until he felt calm again. Hermann came around, closed Newt's door, and took his arm.

"We'll get seen and leave early," Hermann said.

"Mm, no we won't. That's what you said last time."

"That was your fault, entirely." He squeezed Newt's arm. "You can stay later, if you don't believe me, and I'll leave without you."

"Drag me out by the ear before you leave me alone here with these idiots."

"If you put it that way, then, fine."

"Knew you'd go for that, you jackass." Newt grinned and kissed Hermann on the tip of his ear.

Hermann turned his nose up, but he couldn't keep the smile out of his eyes.

Newt let go of Hermann's arm and jumped ahead to get the door open.

 

\------------------

 

Newt's arms were full to the point where he could barely see, so he kicked fruitlessly at Hermann's office door, trying to force it open without putting anything down.

"Hey! Hermann! Let me in, you bastard!"

Before Hermann had any possible time to respond, the bags of takeout started sliding out of Newt's arms. "Wait, no, wait, please please pleeeease---shit, you asshole! I hate you!" They hit the floor and Newt scrambled after them, forgetting that Hermann's office door opened out.

"You needn't pitch a fit in the hallway; I'm coming," Hermann said. He flung the door open, nailing Newt on the head.

Fifteen minutes later, Newt sat holding an icepack to his head, trying with moderate success to eat entirely one-handed. "If anyone asks, I got this saving your life," Newt said. "It's even sort of true. You would probably have starved to death in here without me."

"I already had lunch," Hermann said. He was staring at the unnecessary abundance of food Newt had piled on his desk. "And I have to leave in fifteen minutes. Newton, was there a point to this?" Newt bringing him food wasn't unusual, but the amount made him wonder if he had missed something.

"Jesus Christ, man, it's our anniversary."

Hermann felt a brief flutter of panic as he looked at the calendar. His eyes narrowed. "It is _not._ "

"Yeah, but you should've seen the look on your face," Newt said, grinning, and then wincing as the pain in his head warned him against excessive motion.

"Wait, but no. It is, actually, isn't it? Not the one people mean, but..."

Newt laughed. "I knew it! You remembered the date, right off the top of your head. You're a sap and you love me."

"It was a memorable letter," Hermann said, defending himself.

"Let me guess--you took it into bed with you, am I right?" He dropped his fork for a minute so he could make a vigorous wanking gesture with his left hand. "You wrote your name 'Hermann Geiszler' for weeks by accident."

"Or I have a memory for dates," Hermann said.

" _Or_ you remember numbers. It's one of those."

"You're getting on my case for it, but you're the one who brought all of this to celebrate," Hermann pointed out.

"I was just shifting files around and remembered, like a regular human being."

Hermann finally opened his plastic container. Steam rushed out, and he tentatively poked at his food with a plastic fork. "Honestly, Newton, I'm never sure if you're trying to make me regret marrying you or regret not doing it sooner."

"Hey, I'm spontaneous! It's one of my best qualities, like, top ten."

Hermann ate a few bites and re-closed the container. Endearing or not, he couldn't change that he actually had just eaten. "Oh, you did remind me. I have some brochures for our real anniversary." He opened three drawers in his desk before finding the stack in the fourth one. He dropped them in front of Newt.

"I already said my piece on this, babe. You know where I want to go. Just set it up."

"I'm not voluntarily spending money to look at the damn pacific ocean again, Newton. I want to go _inland."_

They argued it for the next five minutes, until Hermann had to leave. Newt grabbed the brochures on the way out, along with the rest of the garbage.

 

\---------------------------------------

 

The door at the back of the classroom opened, and Newt registered it opening, but didn't look up. He was pacing back and forth across the room, his voice edging up in pitch, gesticulating wildly as he went into minute thirty of answering an off-topic question. It was an _interesting_ question, though.

His students were starting to shift in their seats and glance at their phones, checking the time. The student who had asked the question mouthed "I'm sorry" at his neighbor.

The door closed and Newt looked up for a second when he recognized the familiar tap of Hermann's cane. Hermann waved his hand, _do go on, don't let me stop you,_ and Newt went back to the point when was making.

Later, as they walked together back to their car, Hermann's hand tucked into Newt's elbow, he said, "That was certainly some _nonsense_ you were polluting your students' ears with."

"I'm not wrong, Hermann; how would you even start justifying a position on this? It's not about _counting_ anything."

"I suppose it's _entertaining_ , at least, so all the children who picked your class because you're a celebrity are satisfied."

"You can insult me, or you can actually support your position--but wait! You can't support your position, because--"

"Dr. Sato would argue--"

"I doubt Sato even saw a picture of a kaiju salivatory gland, whereas _I_ have--"

"Dr. Sato is the foremost expert on--"

"On how to con your way into a doctorate, as far as I can tell!"

The argument continued as they got in the car, and only paused for the length of time it took Hermann to say "Yes, it's just two, thank you" to the host that led them to their table.

It morphed into a different argument over the course of their meal. They mostly spoke in harsh whispers, periodically getting louder whenever it became essential that they interrupt one another.

They cycled back to their original topic as Hermann parked the car in front of their house. Newt went right inside and started outlining a response to Dr. Sato's recent article while Hermann took his time getting ready for bed.

Once Hermann was settled in, warm for the first time that day, fussing with his laptop, Newt walked into the bedroom. His face was still flushed from polishing off the bottle of wine at dinner and when he went to pull his undershirt off over his head, his glasses got caught and he was squinting down on the dark carpet trying to find them. Hermann gently poked at them with his cane and finally hooked them on the end. Newt grabbed them, shrugging.

"You break these, you pay for them, and they were like four hundred bucks." He put them back on. "Thanks, though, I mean." He pulled off his pants and climbed in bed.

"I didn't mind that place," Hermann said, his laptop clicking gently as he closed it. "That food wasn't terribly exciting, however."

Newt popped open the bottle of pills on the side table. "No kidding. I pick the next one. At least when I pick, the food's _interesting_."

"Never good, but interesting," Hermann agreed.

"You liar! Every place we end up going to regularly? Is a place _I_ suggested, because you are like exclusively attracted to places that can only use papyrus font and pump in tedious classical music, not even the _interesting_ shit." He watched Hermann roll his eyes, and then took off his glasses and set them aside. "You know I'm right."

"I know I have no opinion on fonts." Hermann set his laptop aside. "The places I pick are far more appropriate for men our age, and they always have better wine," he said, haughty.

"Everyone else there had gray hair, dude!"

Hermann reached over and tugged on a few strands of Newt's hair. "Hm. I believe I was the only one there who didn't."

Newt flicked him off.

Hermann patted Newt's cheek. "Now, now, I think it looks distinguished."

Newt continued to flick him off, not breaking eye contact.

Hermann raised an eyebrow. "I don't know why I bother complimenting you."

"I don't know. You really suck at it." He relaxed. "You're lucky I'm so easy, babe."

"Thank god." He wished they had all evening, but he had to be up fairly early the next day. He grabbed Newt's hand, squeezing it, and pulled it to his lips. "Now, quit your nonsense, and come over here." He kissed the ring on Newt's finger.

There was still some magic in that ring, Hermann mused, even after all these months. It wouldn't work forever, but he would make use of it for as long as he could.

Newt's expression softened. "It's still not a compliment. Rock stars aren't _distinguished_. Maybe I'll just bleach all of it white and get it over with."

His eyes weren't good enough to see Hermann's disgusted expression until he was right up to him. He could feel the curl in Hermann's lips soften and his mouth open as he decided Newt must have been kidding.

He wasn't.

 

 

THE END

 


End file.
